


The Tide Comes In

by raithfyre



Category: Love Live! Sunshine!!
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance, canon compliant (I think)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-29
Updated: 2016-10-11
Packaged: 2018-08-18 12:19:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,385
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8161883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raithfyre/pseuds/raithfyre
Summary: Riko realizes that, like always, she's just been worrying too much.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's been forever since I wrote anything besides VN's so I'm a bit rusty at 3rd-person stuff. My intention is to write multiple, sequential parts that are still relatively self-contained, so I guess you could call it episodic? I really have no idea how often I'll update though. I hope that this is enjoyable, despite being relatively unpolished. Thanks for reading! \o/

It happened out at sea.

“It was nice of Kanan to let us use a boat, huh?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Chika,” Riko admonished. “I’m just surprised that you know how to use this thing.”

“Huh? Why’s that?”

“Well, it just seems a little complex, doesn’t it? Or maybe dangerous.”

“You can’t really grow up in a place like Uchiura, or have friends like You, without at least knowing how to pilot a boat!”

“Is that so?” Of course it was an Uchiura thing. What wasn’t? Besides Riko herself, of course, it seemed like everything was a custom or tradition.

“Maybe I can teach you someday.”

Mental image: the two of them, alone on a boat, as Chika gently guides Riko’s hands, steering her in the right direction... Just thinking about it caused Riko’s face to turn red. 

Snap out of it, she told herself. She doesn’t mean it like that.

“Seriously, Chika, we can’t stay out here all day. We need to finish this song.”

Which was easier said than done, considering they had yet to even start it. She didn’t mean to sound so harsh, but it really could be a problem if they stayed out too long.

“Yeah, yeah.” Chika tossed the rest of her snack into the water, where it quickly spread into crumbs. Deftly moving despite the boat’s gentle swaying, she walked over to sit beside Riko.

“So where should we start?”

“Aren’t you the one who writes the lyrics? Where do you usually begin?”

“Huh… Well, from the beginning?”

If it wasn’t adorable, it’d be infuriating. Hell, if it wasn’t Chika, it’d be infuriating. Cursing herself for falling for the most frustrating person she knew, Riko forced a smile onto her face.

“Right. From the beginning. So what should this song be about?”

“We’ve written lots of songs about our dream, and about Aqours itself, right? So maybe we should do something different this time.”

“Different like what?”

Riko turned.

Sunlight poured across the horizon, making the ocean’s surface look as if someone had scattered diamonds across it. The blue sky was quickly giving way to pink and orange. Despite the way that the light played with the water, it was Chika that shined the most as she always did.

Chika shrugged.

“I dunno.”

And Riko turned away, the moment having been ruined.

“Let’s just go back to shore. We’re not going to get anything done out here at this rate.”

“Riko, no! I’m sorry, I’ll try harder.”

Even if she had wanted to, Riko wouldn’t have been able to keep from smiling. The sincerity and nearly desperate tone of Chika’s was more than enough to call her bluff. She would stay out on the water all night if Chika asked her to. Now there was an idea… 

“Okay, okay. I don’t want to have to tell everyone else that we couldn’t finish, either. So we’re going to write about something new.”

“Right.”

“But we don’t know what that new thing is.”

“Right.”

Sighing, Riko began to dig through her bag. It was hardly a surprise that things were going this way, even after a few hours of “work.” Her hand closed around a thin plastic case, buried beneath the notebooks and pens that were so far unused. But before she could retrieve it, the girl beside her whispered something unintelligible.

“Sorry Chika, what was that? I couldn’t hear.”

“I said,” Chika’s voice was barely louder now. “We could try writing a love song again.”

“Again?” Her heart hurt. “There’s a reason that didn’t work out before.” Her chest ached. “None of us really have… experience.” Her face burned.

“Experience…”

The tone of Chika’s voice was weird. Wistful and shy all at the same time. It was confusing.

Sitting back up, Riko’s empty hands fidgeted in her lap. Surely this wasn’t going where she thought it was going, because that was impossible. Because wishing on stars, and birthday candles, and four leaf clovers, doesn’t actually do anything, and so there wasn’t really any way that-

“Hey, Riko?”

Riko choked on nothing.

“Yes?”

“Do you want to kiss me?”

Time stopped as her mind struggled to process the six words. Then without warning, it felt as if she was thinking too many things at once.

“W-w-what?”

Eloquent. The best way to handle the situation.

“C’mon, don’t make me say it again.”

Somehow, it looked as if Chika was framed by the few clouds above them. Like a halo. There was no more pink. Only orange.

Her eyes were half-shut, and there were only a few centimeters between them. And the distance was getting shorter as Chika moved closer, until her skirt pressed against Riko’s, their legs touching as well. Shivers ran up Riko’s body as if she’d been shocked.

Well, in a way, she had.

“Is it really okay?” She couldn’t believe she was asking. What was going on? Was she suffering from heat stroke? Had she fallen asleep, and this was a dream?

Chika nodded, and then it didn’t matter anymore.

Riko hoped dearly that her breath didn’t smell as she turned her face towards Chika’s, angling her head a little bit the way that she had seen in movies. Air left her like a machine gun, rushing to escape her pounding chest.

You were supposed to close your eyes when you kissed, right? That sounded correct, so Riko did that. Chika’s were already shut. She could feel Chika's breathing, more steady than her own as their faces got closer.

Closer.

“Ow!” Riko yelped as their noses slammed together, and both girls recoiled away. Massaging the sore spot, Riko’s stomach twisted as she opened her eyes, furious at herself for having ruined it.

But no, Chika was laughing. Rubbing her own nose as well, but also giggling.

“I don’t think that was supposed to happen.”

“N-no, probably not.”

“Do you want to try again?”

There was no time for Riko to overthink it this time, because Chika was already moving back toward her. Eyes closed, mouth shut, watch the nose, and…

Sweet. Chika’s lips tasted sweet. Traces of azuki beans, probably from the bread she’d discarded just minutes before. A little dry, but not unpleasantly so. Warm. Very warm.

Paralyzed, but blissful, Riko hardly dared to move. What if she screwed it up? What if they tried to move at the same time? It was better for her to just sit still, and let Chika do the hard work.

How very odd it felt to be this close to someone else. To be doing something so intimate and personal.

And how wonderful that it was Chika. Chika, who had been the first friend she made here. Who had coaxed her out of her shell and into Aqours. Who she had thought, many times since then, about kissing, but to whom she never expected to actually do it.

All too soon it was over, though Riko had no actual idea how long it had been.

They slowly drifted apart, but not so far that they couldn’t still reach each other. Riko watched Chika’s face, which was turned down. Pangs of fear spiked through her.

Had she messed up after all? Was Chika regretting it? Maybe they could just write this off, and pretend it had never happened.

Then Chika looked back up, and her lips were curved upwards in the faintest of smiles.

“Did you mean that?” she asked.

“Did I… Yes.” Riko nodded. Twice. Three times. Just for good measure.

“Good,” said Chika, and she kissed Riko again.


	2. Chapter 2

“So what do we tell them?”

Earth to Riko. That’s right - there was a world that existed beyond the little boat, unfortunately.

“Huh? Tell who what?”

“I asked you first, silly. What do we tell the others? We didn’t actually get a song written, and uh…”

With a quick look down at their interlocked hands, Riko understood. Yeah, they might have some explaining to do.

“I um… I’m not sure we should tell them.” It was like her mind was processed all the action now, as Riko struggled to comprehend just what exactly had happened between her and Chika, and what it meant.

Actually, what did it mean? Anything? Nothing? Everything? Oh God, she should’ve asked sooner. It’d been like half an hour now and it would be weird for her to bring it up at this point.

They were holding hands, which had to mean something, since it had been-

Wait, who had grabbed whose hand? Did Riko take Chika’s? She suddenly couldn’t remember, and her free hand; the empty one, covered her mouth.

“Riko? What’s wrong?”

Somehow she was turning into a mess, right then and there, while her thoughts raced too fast for her to keep up.

“Chika, we just kissed each other.”

Chika smiled, though she looked confused.

“Yeah, we did. Did you just remember or something?”

“But we kissed each other!”

“Riko, you’re not making any sense.”

“You’re not making sense!”

“Wha? I didn’t say anything though. What’s wrong?” That was the second time she’d asked, and now Chika seemed even more concerned.

Riko took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down a little.

“I kissed you, Chika.”

“I know. I was there.”

“So like… Was it okay?”

“I don’t really have anything to compare it to, but-”

“That’s not what I mean! I mean was it okay that we did it… That I did it.”

“Riko, you already asked that before. Of course it’s okay. And it would be okay if you did it again. And again.”

When she said that, with her voice strong and unworried, it made Riko feel like her heart was opening up to accept that courage. Damn, she was really into this girl. She had known it, but she hadn’t really known it until now.

“Then, are we…”

“Are we…?”

“Together? Like…” Say it, Riko, she willed herself. Say the G-word. “Girlfriends?”

The way Chika’s face lit up was all the answer needed. But she still grinned and said, “Of course!”

All of the worry melted away like ice cream. She hated how she was acting like a nervous wreck, while Chika seemed so calm and composed, but it was just so… New! And different! And Riko had no idea how she was supposed to behave.

Somehow, Chika and “new experiences” seemed to go hand-in-hand. Literally.

“So,” Chika said, now that things seemed to be normal again. “Why don’t you think we should tell them?”

 _Because I can’t give Kanan and Mari the satisfaction of being right, is what she wanted to say,_ but that wasn’t the only reason.

“I just don’t want the group dynamic to change. Not right now, when we need to be practicing harder than ever.”

“Why would it change?”

“I don’t know, I’m just…” She trailed off. Maybe she was just overthinking things again? But Chika smiled, and patted her hand.

“That’s okay. We don’t have to tell them yet if you don’t want to.”

Cheeks tinged red, Riko looked over at her girlfriend. Her shining, radiant girlfriend.

“Thank you.”

With uncharacteristic precision, Chika navigated the boat back into the small dock just beyond Kanan’s house. Riko stood and watched as Chika tied everything up and left the boat as they’d found it. No lights were on in the Matsuura household, which meant that everyone was away. Maybe Kanan was with Mari and the rest of Aqours right now. Technically, Chika and Riko had until morning to complete the song they’d promised before they were officially late, though that was definitely a lost cause at this point.

No, the best thing they could do was just wait until tomorrow and beg forgiveness, saying that they’d tried their best but just been unable to come up with anything. That wasn’t a hundred percent untrue, after all…

“Okay Riko, let’s go!”

Usually when they walked home together, Chika would be just a little bit ahead, leading the way. But tonight, the two of them were side by side, not quite touching but closer than usual.

“We really do need to write some lyrics, you know.”

“Lyrics, huh? That the only thing you can think about?” Chika teased.

Riko looked at her lips, curled into a smile.

“Not the only thing.” 

“We’ll get it done, don’t worry. And if we write the greatest Aqours song ever, then maybe we’ll get to write more songs together!”

“That sounds nice.”

“Right? I’ve tried to write lyrics with You before, but she doesn’t really have the ear for it.”

“What about the others?”

“Hm, well, I haven’t asked any of the rest, because it’s kind of embarrassing.”

“Really? How is it embarrassing?”

“Well, you know…” Chika scratched her head, pace slowing a little. “I don’t really know how to put it into words, either. Isn’t that kind of funny?”

“A little bit.” Something nagged at Riko, in the back of her mind, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

For the rest of the walk home, the two of them talked about anything that came to mind. School, Aqours, even what they were going to have for dinner that night. The conversation came light and easily, though their closeness made it feel all the more precious to Riko than usual. Far too soon, the adjacent lights of their homes came into view.

They stopped, just outside the inn where Chika lived, and Riko took an instinctive step away. Just in case someone was watching from inside.

“So, see you tomorrow?” she asked as Chika rubbed her eyes.

“Mhm. Plus I’ll text you. Lots.”

“Okay. You’d better.” They both laughed, but it trailed off quickly as the same question came to mind: what now? Riko blinked as Chika leaned in, her eyes closed…

Then suddenly she reeled back. A shadow had appeared in the doorway of the inn, though the door hadn’t yet opened.

So instead, the two girls exchanged a smirk instead of a kiss as Chika skipped to the doorway.

“Goodnight, Ri~ko~” she sang the two syllables, causing their namesake’s heart to pound. For a long minute, Riko stared at the door through which Chika - her girlfriend! - had disappeared.

Part of her wondered if the thrill at being able to call Chika that would ever go away. Most of her hoped that it wouldn’t.


End file.
